Tamil Nadu based regional broadcaster Mavis Satcom Limited was the lone broadcaster to comply with the deadline set by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for broadcasters to publish their new Reference Interconnect Offer (RIO) in line with the Tariff Amendment Order 2020. 45 days after the deadline expired, while other big broadcasters continue to defy the regulator’s direction, Odisha based broadcaster Odisha Television Ltd. has become the second pay broadcaster after Jaya TV Network to publish its new Reference Interconnect Offer (RIO) compliant with the New Tariff Order 2.0. (NTO 2.0)
The broadcaster on Saturday published its new Reference Interconnect Offer (RIO) effective 1st March 2020. The a-la-carte rates of its channel and bouquet rates, however, remain unchanged. Tarang remains priced at Rs 10 per month. Tarang Music and Prarthana continue to cost Rs 2 per month. Alankar is priced at Rs 4 per month while OTV remains Free to Air (FTA) channel.
OTV continues to offer only broadcaster bouquet in its offerings which carry all of its pay channels. The bouquet carrying Tarang, Tarang Music, Prarthana, and Alankar remains unchanged at a pricing of Rs 15.30 per month.
The new RIO has also been amended pursuant to the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Interconnection (Addressable Systems) (Amendment) Regulations, 2019 dated 30.10.2019. It also mentions the new discontinuation threshold for a television channel set by the regulator. The LCN slabs and discount slabs for DPOs remain unchanged.
OTV offers only a 15% discount on its bouquet from 2019 as envisaged by the TRAI in its initial Tariff Order plans which couldn’t be enforced upon broadcasters. The bouquet MRP also satisfies the twin condition set by the regulator in the amended Tariff Order. It doesn’t violate any of the conditions set by TRAI for bouquet formation.
With the amendments to the Tariff Order 2017 coming into force from yesterday, it remains to be seen what action TRAI takes on the broadcasters and DPOs who haven’t complied with its directions. Only fewer stakeholders have shown willingness to migrate to the Tariff Amendment Order 2020 while others continue to defy it. With today being the first working day of this month, one can expect some movement from the regulator’s end.
